Tulsa Family Photographer – Laura Eddy
Happy Monday! It’s already felt like a long (but exciting!) month over here at LEP. I’ve had such an amazing start to the 2021 wedding season, and I’m looking forward to finishing out strong this summer as a Tulsa family photographer before our baby girl arrives. Unrelated to weddings, I’ve begun offering Mini Sessions for families and couples. These are seasonal petite sessions planned for specific dates with specific themes. Think each season of the year – what are traits that make each one unique? When do you and your family desire to have updated photos (I hope you say every year, or at least for each big life event!)? Expanding my photography offerings to serve more families and couples has been a desire of mine the past year, and I’m going to be honest…starting the journey into motherhood myself has already brought a new sense of appreciation and value for myself of family portraiture. Amy Rau Photography will be taking our own maternity and newborn photographs later this year, and I’m already imagining where we will print and hang our photographs in our home!
As a Tulsa family photographer, the most common question I get from couples and families is “What the heck do we wear?!” I know it’s not every day that you pick out “matching” outfits for you and 4 kids…it’s not easy. I understand! These 3 tips should help guide you as you look through your own closet and maybe even go out to purchase new outfits for the occasion. Leave a comment if you have any questions or need more advice while planning – I’m looking forward to serving you and your family! And I KNOW ya’ll will look amazing!
1. Don’t Match – Coordinate Instead
My first piece of advice is to ditch the cliche trend of jeans and a white shirt. Although I encourage my couples to keep their outfit choices clean and soft, that doesn’t mean everyone needs to be decked from head to toe in white. Pick 2-3 colors that compliment one another. Use creams and whites to balance the colors you choose, but make sure to add that variety in tones so your image has balance without looking cookie-cutter. The family above did a great job of this! They chose light pink and yellow with blue, then used tan and white to fill in and make sure the image had a soft vibe overall.
2. Choose Soft, Earthy, Pastel Colors
This is my biggest piece of advice for achieving bright, light, and soft imagery. The outfit you wear plays a huge impact on the overall brightness of an image. If you are wearing black from head to toe, there is no way to make the image “soft” as black is naturally a more harsh color that adds contrast. Below is a color pallet with some of my favorite colors that my clients wear. Use these colors, paired with neutral tones to create a soft color pallet for your outfits. If your favorite color is pink, find a blush colored dress – instead of a bright pink dress with orange flowers (although a good statement piece can really look amazing if done correctly!). But, as a rule of thumb, keep the colors light and soft. Think pastels or dusty, earthy tones. They photograph beautifully in all types of lighting and are less likely to reflect strong and vibrant colors back onto your skin.
These two couples below had a bit more contrast in their photos because of the dark jeans and navy blue suite. In my opinion, they did a great job of balancing light and dark, but you can see the difference that the color of your clothing has on your images. Since they kept the other pieces of their clothing neutral and light, the overall image had room to “breathe” and more areas of the photograph have the light and airy feeling. So, if you want to go for a little more of a bold look, make sure you use your other clothing choices to lighten the image.
This couple stuck with the baby blue and cream tones which lead to bright, light, and soft imagery. I am a fan of lighter colored clothing because it takes the focus away from the outfits and onto your face and emotions – the outfits become less distracting and more complimentary.
3. Skip the Patterns
This one may seem obvious, but skip the patterns. Yes – even stripes! I recommend this for a few reasons. The first is because some patterns, especially small detailed patterns, do not photograph well. Small stripes do not translate well in photos and large stripes are distracting. In far shot images, small patterns can become jumbled to the eye and large patterns, again, can be distracting. Secondly, if there are multiple pieces of clothing with patterns on them, it is rare that they actually coordinate well. You will also run into scenarios where the two people wearing patterns can never stand next to each other in the images or else they will clash. Are there times when statement pieces of clothing with unique patterns look absolutely amazing? YES! These are all just rule of thumb pieces of advice to help you achieve the bright, light, and soft images that my clients love.
I hope these tips help you as you plan for your next family, engagement, anniversary, or other session (and I hope you choose me as your Tulsa family Photographer)! These “rules” can apply to any type of photography sessions and hopefully lessen the burden of deciding what to pick for your outfits. Simple is usually better, and easy ways to add statement pieces to your photographs would be with jewelry, shoes, and even how you do your hair and makeup! Go all out, because like I said – It’s not every day that you get to capture precious memories like these. Children grow up so fast, and years of marriage seem to go by in the blink of an eye.
If you’d like to inquire about your families session, please contact me here. I cannot wait to serve you!
In Christ,
Laura Eddy
